my turn

okay, I hope everybody is ready to start writing, because the only reason I haven't been nagging all of you is because I haven't been writing either.

Check.

I'm kind of wanting to go in a few different directions with this post and with the blog in general. I'm pretty crap at writing day to day entries; I usually try to wait until I have something "big" to say.

I've got nothing big to say, which is the equivalent of not having a target to try to land on when you parachute out of a plane. Parachuting never sounded like much fun to me, too scary, but for this once let's try it.

I'm eating sushi. Why don't we grow up eating this stuff? It's terrific, I love it.

I'm on call. That is, I'm getting paid to sit around the apartment just in case and computers break... so there will be somebody there to fix them quickly (me).

I'm on a fruit kick. You should be eating more fruit.

There is this web site called "real age" or something like that. You can google it. The idea is that depending on your lifestyle, etc., you may be older or younger than your birth date would imply. What makes it kind of fun is that it keeps updating your age as you answer questions, and then it sends you an e-mail link to your final age and a list of all the things that make you younger or older than average

I need more fish and fruit, and exercise. And nuts.

What actually prodded me to write today was an article in the New York Times written by somebody who has lived in Iraq the last two years. The only times I've ever felt like I really understood what was going on over there have been when I've read things written by people who have no connection to politics or the military. That may sound like a stereotypical "Don't trust authority" thought, but it's not that I think everybody in the establishment is trying to mislead the public. Rather, I think that people who look at a situation from the outside with their own agenda end up asking the wrong questions, such that even the right answers can be misleading. People who live it organically recognize how the questions are framed on the ground, and if you don't start with that-with understanding what it is that you are trying to change-the law of unintended consequences will eat your lunch every time.

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/weekinreview/28tave.html

Gosh, it sure is easier to write about stuff like that then simple day-to-day things. Anybody else find that to be true?

It's harder for me to write about the personal things I think about:

Money, the ethics of what you buy with it, the difference between extravagance and paying living wages, what is worth giving up for it.

Friendships, how much philosophical/political/artistic/temperamental similarities you need to have to make them worth the effort, how much depth and frequency of interaction you need to make them grow, what kinds of friends you need.

Locations, where to live, where to work, and the importance of culture, cost-of-living, job opportunities, closeness to existing friends, climate, infrastructure you need to be happy.

Sex, how and why it brings out different parts of your personality, why it embarrasses us publicly and privately, the effects of nature and nurture on our desires and attitudes, and what it all means for ethics and identity.

Much easier to talk about existentialism.

I must say I admire folks who write so (seemingly) easily about their day-to-day insecurities. It's a terrifically brave thing and inspiring.

That's pretty much what I wanted to say.

Now, get writing.